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February 13, 2014

ENGIt's already the second time around I get to celebrate Valentine's at Recyclie, and I'd like to remind you of my DIY Valentine's last year.

I also like the way Real Simple magazine (I've been fond of the publication since 2000) suggests different uses for our everyday stuff (see the above images)! Upcycling!

And Finnish Kodin Kuvalehti gave the sweetest tip in it's 3 October issue last year: "Make a heart of an old piece of clothing that makes you think of good times. – Do you remember what you were wearing when you met your loved one for the first time?" (Transl. Katja K.)

February 9, 2014

ENGI've always been fond of Finnish Mirka Pukine's recycled dresses! The above spring dresses are sewn with tablecloths that used to serve in restaurants; the pink rose yoke dress is made with sateen tablecloths and the striped pocket dress is of cotton.

Since my childhood, I've always liked to wear old clothes. In Junior high school I scoured all Kuopio flea markets (even if it wasn't that common back then), and as a High school student I went completely crazy – together with my roommate we filled our small rented cottage with recycling center finds: clothing, shoes and fabrics. My lavish wardrobe then led to the idea of a dream summer job, and we ended up setting up and running our own secondhand store in Kuopio for a couple of years. At the same time I started my studies in clothing and began to sew products for sale on a small scale, too. – To me the choice of recycled materials was therefore both aesthetic and ecological from the very beginning! ⎮ Olen aina, jo lapsesta saakka, käyttänyt mielelläni vanhoja vaatteita. Yläasteikäisenä kolusin Kuopion kirpputoreja (vaikkei se silloin vielä kovin yleistä ollutkaan), ja lukiolaisena hurahdin täysin – kämppikseni kanssa täytimme pienen vuokramökkimme kierrätyskeskuslöydöillä: vaatteilla, kengillä ja kankailla. Ylenpalttinen vaatevarasto johti unelmien kesätyöpaikan ideoimiseen, eli perustimme ja pyöritimme loppujen lopuksi parisen vuotta omaa secondhandliikettä Kuopiossa. Samaan aikaan aloitin vaatetusopinnot ja aloin ommella tuotteita pienessä mittakaavassa myös myyntiin. – Kierrätysmateriaalin käyttö oli minulle alusta saakka siis sekä esteettinen että ekologinen valinta!

2.How did you get a hold of the tablecloth material for the above dresses, just to give us an example? ⎮ Mistä esimerkiksi kuvan mekkojen materiaali – pöytäliina – on peräisin?

We were looking for shelving for Mirka Pukine, and, luckily, at a store selling used restaurant furniture we were suggested the textiles, too. We were able to salvage a trolley-full of tablecloths that had served well in restaurants! ⎮ Olimme hankkimassa Mirka Pukineelle hyllyjä käytettyjen ravintolakalusteiden liikkeestä, kun meille onneksemme vinkattiin myös tekstiileistä – saimme pelastettua rullakollisen hyvin entisessä tehtävässään ravintolapöytäliinoina palvelleita yksilöitä!

3.How are Mirka products recycled when they come to the end of their life? (I've heard that textiles can be best recycled when all parts of the garment, from yarn to fabric, are of the same material.) ⎮ Kuinka Mirka-tuotteet kierrätetään, kun ne tulevat käyttöikänsä päähän? (Olen kuullut, että tekstiiliä voidaan parhaiten kierrättää, kun esim. vaatteen kaikki osat, langasta kankaaseen, ovat samaa materiaalia.)

PS Mirka Pukine's spring dresses were photographed at the old Väärni presbytery, which the owners, Minna Kettunen and Jarkka Rissanen, a writer and a musician, persist in restoring to bring the building back to life – or maintaining an entire way of life and atmosphere. ⎮ Mirka Pukineen kevätmekot on kuvattu Väärnin Pappilassa, jota omistajapariskunta, kirjailija Minna Kettunen ja muusikko Jarkka Rissanen, sinnikkäästi kunnostaa rakennuksen henkiin herättämiseksi – tai kokonaisen elämäntavan ja tunnelman ylläpitämiseksi!

February 8, 2014

ENGA couple of weeks ago, when I came from Italy (and suddenly jumped from 11 degrees to minus 11 degrees Celsius and had to dress in all my winter clothes!), I tried fasting for the first time in my life. A real challenge, especially considering the time of the year, but here's how I managed.

February 5, 2014

ENG Here's my recycled office; this is where I blog from! I spotted the table top in the trash and placed it on Ikea trestle table legs. The table lamp is likewise a trash find, and both the abacus and pincushion are from a flea market. The office chairs were painted by my sister.

On the counter you can see a selection of my favorite books, including my Molla Mills crocheting books (see my book list here), and I keep my pencils and washi tape in Design Letters cups by Danish designer-copywriter Mette Thomsen – also a flea market find, believe it or not! Since the designer did not find suitable letters to decorate the children's room, she designed a typography collection of her own. And a true Design Letters craze began when Thomsen discovered a letter collection by architect Arne Jacobsendating from 1937 and a product line dedicated to him was launched.

Right now, I feel empowered by the following topics and I'm planning on writing about them the upcoming days and weeks:

Cosmetics – could I really, at least in part, replace the rows of containers in my bathroom (as well as the broom closet) with baking soda, apple cider vinegar and cold-pressed coconut oil?

I wonder whether I've forced the author's block to fall? I took a two-month break from blogging, and now the more relaxed and reasonable Recyclie story (that I've been telling myself for the past 15 months) may come out again...

Recyclie, that's me, a foodie gone (re)cycling: This blog's all about bicycle riding, living and cooking on a shoestring, and, naturally, recycling, or "repairing, repainting, reinterpreting, reviving, redeploying or simply relishing" – to quote one of my favorite interior designers and authors, Ilse Crawford–, feminine and Finnish style, with an Italian twist. In real life, I'm a Helsinki-based interpreter and translator, as well as the author of "Reilun kaupan ruokaa ja elämää" (Perhemediat, 2009), that is, the first Finnish Fairtrade cookbook.